Wowprime to hire 3,000 workers amid mass expansion plan

By Amy Su / Staff reporter

Wed, Nov 07, 2012 - Page 13

Wowprime Corp (王品集團), which owns 11 restaurant chains with 265 outlets in Taiwan and China, plans to hire 3,000 employees next year, signalling that the company is on track to launch 62 new outlets in the months ahead, a company official said yesterday.

The company will also focus on launching low-price food-and-beverage brands in the future to raise its corporate profile, the official said.

“The company is set to hire another 3,000 employees next year,” local cable television network UBN quoted Wowprime chairman Steve Day (戴勝益) as saying on the sidelines of the company’s annual tray-carrying competition in Taipei.

A total of 1,000 students in 180 teams from more than 80 schools took part in yesterday’s waiting competition. This is Wowprime’s sixth time holding the event, in which all members of the three best-performing teams are rewarded with full-time jobs after they graduate, Day said.

Full-time positions may account for 60 percent of the planned openings, with the other 40 percent possibly part-time positions, Day said, adding that Wowprime’s workforce could reach 15,000 if the planned recruitment pushes through.

During the first three quarters of the year, Wowprime posted NT$826.86 million (US$28.24 million) in net profit, or earnings per share of NT$12.42, up 28 percent year-on-year, the restaurant conglomerate said in a statement.

Fubon Securities Investment Services Co (富邦投顧) analyst George Chu (朱家麟) expected the company’s full-year net profit to reach NT$1.12 billion this year, up 44.4 percent from last year, with NT$16.43 in earnings per share, up from NT$12.44 last year, according to a note issued on Oct. 31.

Wowprime shares rose 1.11 percent to close at NT$410 in yesterday’s trading.

Chu has an “add” rating on Wowprime and set his target price for the company at NT$500, citing its strong franchise value in Taiwan and growth potential in China.